The Slender Games
by Dante Alighieri1308
Summary: Fellow tributes won't be the only enemies in the arena this year. A monster of myth and legend will be joining the tributes known as Der Ritter. But that means nothing compared to the ultimate twist of the Hunger Games ever, the possibility of no Victor at all!
1. Swan Song

**_So one day I was surfing the internet, minding my own business when I suddenly came across a parady video which combined the horror of the video game Slender with crazy violence of the Hunger Games. I couldn't help but feel inspired from this, and thus the Slender Games were born!_**

**_Just to clear up a few things:_**

**_1.) This story is the 100th Hunger Games, or the Fourth Quarter Quell, so for this universe's sake the rebellion never happened. Unlike my other story (The 76th Hunger Games - The Haunted) I will not be doing as much background about what happened during the earlier Games or why the rebellion didn't happen. All that you guys need to know is that it didn't happen and the abomination known as the Hunger Games is still happening._**

**_2.) This is by nature a horror story along with Hunger Games action, so expect more disturbing scenes then your usual Hunger Games violence._**

**_3.) My inspiration came from this video: watch?v=OIxFZHrCsAA done by the How It Should Have Ended group. They do some pretty funny stuff and mainly focus on creating alternate endings to movies. Their ending for the Hunger Games is also pretty good._**

**_I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES, ALL CREDIT GOES TO SUZANNE COLLINS. I ALSO DO NOT OWN SLENDER MAN OR ANY CONTENT RELATED TO SLENDER THE GAME OR SLENDER MAN. I DO OWN ANY CHARACTERS NOT FEATURED IN EITHER MEDIA AND ALL IDEAS FEATURED IN THIS STORY ARE MY OWN._**

* * *

**The Slender Games**

**Chapter 1 The Swan Song**

**Day 1**

When sixteen year old Ian of District 12 opened his eyes to the arena, he was stunned at what he saw.

There was no cornucopia.

There were no other tributes in sight.

He was standing, on his metal plate, in the middle of a dense forest. The surrounding area was serene and smelled of alpine and dirt, similar to the smell you got if you ventured near the electric fence on the outskirts of the District border. The sky above was painted with orange, yellow, and red giving Ian the impression that it was either sunrise or sunset arena time.

To say this wasn't what Ian was expecting from the Fourth Quarter Quell would be a bit of an understatement.

Slowly Ian moved off his plate and stepped onto the dirt ground of the forest. Leaves and branches crunched underneath his boots as he stepped down and in the distance Ian thought he could hear birds chirping. Ian was also met with a sense of relief mixed with confusion. For ninety nine Hunger Games there was always a cornucopia to supply weapons and foods for the tributes, now there wasn't any. It had been his plan to run in, grab some supplies, and then sprint away as quickly as possible. Now he wasn't quite sure what he was suppose to do.

Suddenly Ian heard the sound of crunching and he knew that there was somebody nearby. Noticing some bushes nearby, Ian ducked behind them, trying to keep his body as small as possible. The crunching became louder as the person got closer but at the same time Ian could tell that each step was tentative and made cautiously.

Next to him Ian spotted a steady branch and grabbed it to use as a weapon. While reaching for it, Ian had inadvertently created more noise which alerted the person of his presence. Ian hoped that the person would start moving away but instead the steps became louder as the person walked towards the bush Ian was hiding behind.

Panic swept through Ian as the prospect of fighting somebody seemed to be becoming realer by the minute. What an idiot he had been, thinking that the Gamemakers would simply let him walk off his plate without anytime trouble. Well if they wanted a fight Ian would give it to them. He wasn't going down quietly.

Mustering all his courage that he had, Ian jumped from behind his bush and raised the branch over his head in attack position. He shouted out as he faced his attacker, who screamed and fell to the forest floor while throwing up her arms as protection. Ian stopped himself though when he noticed who the girl was.

"Maggie?" He said, relief in his voice.

From the ground the sixteen year old Merchant class girl from District 12 looked up at the Seam boy Ian. Her blue eyes were filled with fear but quickly changed to happiness when she saw him. "Ian!" Maggie shouted, launching herself up from the ground and into an embrace with her District partner.

Both of them broke apart and Maggie pushed her blonde curls out of her face and looked around. Ian smiled, looking around as well. "So this is the Quarter Quell? It's kind of peaceful?" he asked.

Maggie smiled, her teeth white compared to Ian's stained teeth which couldn't be helped regardless of Capitol cosmetics. "It actually is though. Do you think their getting lazy and just repeating the 50th Hunger Games?"

"Let's hope so." Ian said, "That way District 12 will have a victor."

Maggie smiled politely but he could tell he had said something wrong. Oh... that's right... the 50th Games was won by a _male_ tribute from District 12. "I didn't mean that I would win or anything-" Ian said, trying to correct himself.

"Oh don't worry, I know that!" Maggie said, not wanting Ian to feel bad or anything. It wasn't like she felt like she had an actual chance at winning anyways. She had lived a rather comfortable life back in District 12 compared to what Ian must have gone through. She knew he only had his hard working father as family with barely enough to eat every week, while her family always had food even with three older siblings.

An awkward silence fell over the two as the took a few steps away from each other, hoping the distance would some how fix the situation. When it didn't, Ian decided to try. "So it looks like we're a team for now."

Maggie smiled, "I thought we were always going to be a team."

Ian mentally cursed himself for putting himself in another awkward position. His discomfort made Maggie laugh, "Don't worry, I was only teasing you that time."

Ian laughed uneasily but later was laughing full heartily with Maggie. He remembered how when he first met her, he had assumed she was just another merchant class snob. After the past few days though, Maggie had proven that she was hard working, tough spirited, and more than able to take care of herself. They had bonded quickly and Ian was glad that they were a team.

"I think sundown is coming soon." she remarked.

"Why do you say that?" Ian asked.

"Well for starters the sun is setting if you look at it." Maggie said, smiling slightly at Ian's look of embarrassment, "But also we have flashlights around our belts."

Ian looked down, completely forgetting about the flashlight that his stylist had attached to his side as he stepped in the tube. _'You'll be needing this.'_ she said before kissing him on the cheek and wishing him luck.

Ian grabbed the flashlight from his waist, surprised by the weight of it. It was an older flashlight, rather primitive to the ones used by the coal miners back in District 12. Still it would get the job done so long as it didn't run out of battery.

"Hopefully it won't be that dark." Ian said.

"Let's hope." Maggie said.

"Should we try walking around?" Ian said, "Maybe see what the rest of the arena is like?"

"I suppose." Maggie said, eyeing Ian's branch in his hand. "Are there anymore branches lying around?"

Ian smiled and ran back behind the bush and grabbed another branch. It wasn't as strong as Ian's so he gave his to Maggie and took the weaker one. Maggie smiled, "Such a gentlemen." she said.

Ian smiled too, bowing in a mocking fashion, and pointing to the forest expanse in front of them. "Ladies first." he said.

Maggie did a curtsy and started walking ahead with Ian right by her side. They were an odd team to say the least, the Merchant girl and the poor Seam boy. Yet both of them were united in their agreed goal which superseded all other feelings and goals they may have.

One of them must win for District 12, no matter the cost.

* * *

On the other side of the arena, a twelve year old girl was in tears.

The small dark skinned girl of District 10 was knelling on her plate, her arms lying limply at her sides as her face was cast upward, basking in the glow of the fading sunlight. Tears were flowing freely down her face, followed by fits of laughter that were interrupted frequently by gasps for breath.

Faith was not going to die in the Bloodbath because there was no Bloodbath!

This idea captivated Faith as she continued to cry and laugh at her good luck. Everybody thought that she was going to be a bloodbath, die from being on the receiving end of a Career's sword or simply by falling off her plate and blowing up. She could see it in everybody's eyes which was always in the form of pity. It was the same look that her parents gave her when they came to say goodbye, the same look her school friends gave her, the same look that her escort and mentor and fellow tributes gave her. Even during the interviews it was brought up.

_'I don't think my age will be that big of an issue.' Faith protested, her voice breaking. 'Just because I'm young doesn't mean that I can't win.'_

_In front of her some citizens of the Capitol were laughing, though it wasn't encouraging laughter. They all looked at her with doubtful eyes and few meaner ones with eyes that told her that she was wrong and going to die. There were a few people who looked at her sadly but meant nothing. Why weren't they this mean to the girl from District 7 who was also twelve?_

_Faith wanted to cry but her escort had strictly told her not to. 'Nobody wants to sponsor a cry baby.' she had told Faith in a strict tone, pointing a finger at her face which made Faith fear that her elongated fingernail might stab her in the eye. _

_In the very front row Faith could hear Capitolites betting on her._

_Betting on the exact minute she would die in the Bloodbath._

_Faith then began to cry as the buzzer went off and she slumped back to her seat, nobody in the crowd clapping or cheering for her._

Remembering that horrible memory, Faith began to laugh louder. "You see this Capitol!" She shouted out, throwing her fist up in the air. "I'm not dead! I'm not DEAD!"

"Faith?" A voice said behind her.

Faith gasped and spun around, fearing that some tribute had found her and was about to kill her. When she saw who it was, her face lit up as she jumped from the plate and ran towards the figure. "Jared!" She called out, throwing herself into his arms.

Jared, Faith's eighteen year old district partner, returned the hug with his big arms enveloping her. "There isn't a Bloodbath!" Faith breathed into his arms. "I'm still alive!"

"I know," Jared said, pulling away from Faith to look her in the eye. "But you would have survived it anyway."

Faith laughed, Jared was always looking for ways to cheer her up. He always made her feel better about herself and actually gave her confidence. "You're so nice to me." Faith said.

"And I'll continue to be." Jared said, "Nobody is going to hurt you when I'm around."

Faith hugged him again, crying again. He was so nice, but at the same time she knew he couldn't protect her forever. Even if Jared could protect her, the Games would eventually get to the point were there were only a handful of tributes left before a Victor could be crowned. Would Jared actually let her become Victor? That would mean that he would have to die to allow her to live.

And who would want to die for Faith, the pathetic little girl from District 10?

* * *

Nearby, another tribute was crying out.

Marlin couldn't control himself, allowing himself to scream in fury at the top of his lungs. His face was red and his veins were popping from his neck, making him look like a true barbarian. He ran out of breath and gathered his energy, then screamed again as he charged at a nearby rock and punted it across the forest.

Ignoring the pain in his toes, eighteen year old Marlin of District 4 spun around to look at his younger District partner Sylvia.

"What the hell is this?" He fumed, his entire body shaking. "WHAT IS THIS CRAP?!"

Sylvia looked around, her face relaxed. She shrugged, "Looks like a forest." she replied.

Marlin's rage only increased at his partners smart ass remark. "I know _where_ we are," Marlin said with a shaky voice, "I want to know why we are here!"

Sylvia raised an eyebrow, casually brushing away her black hair from her brown face and eyes. "Where else would you want to be?"

Marlin's face twitched as if a blood vessel in his face had just popped. "THE FREAKIN BLOODBATH!" He shouted, charging at Sylvia. Sylvia just stood there though, looking unimpressed by his display of emotion. "Where is it!"

Sylvia didn't respond, which annoyed Marlin greatly. He screamed in her face and charged away again, punting another rock away.

Sylvia, wiping away some of Marlin's saliva from her face, walked towards her raging partner. "Clearly this is part of the twist that was promised for us in the Quarter Quell."

"It's a pretty sucky one!" Marlin remarked.

"Indeed." Sylvia agreed, though sounded like she couldn't care less.

"Don't you get it?" Marlin complained, not wanting to look this idiot girl in the face. "The bloodbath is our way of getting by! Without it we won't have weapons or food or the other Careers!" _'And I can't kill anybody.'_ Marlin thought to himself, not wanting to say that thought out loud. He supposed it wouldn't make much of difference though, he was a Career after all. Who cared if he admitted to the world he enjoyed killing. His mentors though always told him not to admit it for some reason.

"Well we have these flashlights." Sylvia said.

Marlin laughed sarcastically. "Yes, I suppose we could just bash in people's skulls with them!"

Sylvia frowned. "Well then we would break the flashlights, which wouldn't be helpful. No, these flashlights will no doubt help us when night falls. Many tributes won't be walking around then which we can use to our advantage. As for weapons, if you haven't noticed we are in a forest. We can find some sticks and rocks and fight with them until we can find proper weapons. If we need to be stealthier or cleaner with our kills we can use our belts to choke or snap necks. For shelter we can use these jackets that were given to us, you would notice they are water proof if you bothered to examine it. For water we can find a river, this is a forest after all and it needs to get water from somewhere. And knowing the Gamemakers, if there is a river then there will probably be fish in it which we can eat. We are from the fishing District after all, I think we can manage to catch a few."

All of Sylvia's words made sense, which only made Marlin even madder. He was the older one, the bon a fide Career while Sylvia was only a sixteen year old junior Career. Why anybody had let her volunteer instead of another eighteen year old was beyond Marlin. All he knew was that he was suppose to play nice with her and that she had some special 'talent' which would come in handy in the arena. If that talent was to make Marlin feel like an idiot than he could tell it wouldn't be long before he snapped _her_ neck.

"And what about the rest of the Career alliance?" Marlin asked.

"I'm sure we'll find them in time." Sylvia responded. "For now I think we can manage by ourselves."

Marlin sighed again in anger, but then began to force himself to calm down. Sylvia, no matter how much he hated to admit it, was right. They could manage themselves without the rest of the Careers, or the ally's that they had recruited this year. Besides the normal Career group, they added on a few additional members. The first was the male tribute from 9 who had proven that he could handle himself quite well with a spear apparently from using a pitchfork for most of his life. He had wanted to join their alliance and the Careers had agreed, not wanting an extremely tough enemy against them from the start.

The other tributes were the two from District 3. Neither of them were tough but they were smart and could help the Careers with creating bombs. A few years ago a district 3 tribute had managed to build them self a bomb from the mines underneath the plate. It was small and handheld with a massive blast radius. The bomb had killed the remaining Careers and the tribute from 3 had been crowned Victor. The Careers this year had refused to let that happen again and recruited the tributes from 3 to help make themselves their own bomb.

But since there wasn't a Bloodbath it didn't look that plan would work out fully. Maybe if they ran across those two now Marlin could kill at least one of them.

* * *

"Dig faster!"

"I'm digging fast enough! You dig faster!"

The two fifteen year old tributes from District 3 were on the ground, digging with their hands and nearby sticks underneath the plate they had just risen up from. Julia's shoulder length hair was sticking to her face from sweat and her skinny arms were shaking from the psychical labor while her partner, Darwin, had stopped digging entirely.

"Julia," Darwin began, breathing heavily. "How do we even know that their are mines underneath the plates this year? There wasn't a Bloodbath or a count down."

Julia's stick snapped and she threw it to the side angrily, falling onto her back in exhaustion. The forest air was cool but not cool enough to keep the sweat away. "I don't know, it's just a hope I guess. Those mines really are our only way of making it out of here alive. Besides, neither of us stepped off our plates for at least a minute so we really don't know."

"Well it was a good plan at least to stop the Careers from killing us outright at least." Darwin remarked, throwing off his jacket to cool his body down. Both tributes were currently cursing themselves for not trying to stay somewhat physically fit while they also exercised their minds in school.

"Fat load of good that did." Julia said, "I doubt they'll need us anymore."

"Perhaps." Darwin said, not wanting to think about what they would do should they run into somebody from the Career alliance. "You know what the funny thing about all that is?"

Julia laughed, exasperated. "No Darwin, I really don't know."

"Those bombs they wanted us to make really weren't that hard to build." he said, smiling at Julia. "If they didn't spend so much time beating each other over the head in training or pumping themselves with steroids they could have learned how to make them in probably half an hour."

Julia for some reason found that to be hysterical, and started to laugh. Darwin too, even though he knew what he said wasn't that funny. They were both exhausted and it was barely even fifteen minutes into the Games.

"Regardless, I think we should still try to dig up these plates." Julia said. "Even if there aren't any mines underneath them, there are a ton of electrical wires and plates we can use to maybe build something."

"Like what?" Darwin asked.

"I don't know, a taser maybe?"

Darwin raised an eyebrow. "A taser? Sure... that will stop those mean Careers."

Julia rolled her eyes, "At least I'm thinking of how to survive and not thinking of lame jokes."

Darwin gave her a look of mock hurt, but quickly became more serious. "Well, digging at this rate won't help us. We need to find something else to help us. Maybe the Gamemakers were nice and left us a shovel somewhere?"

"I suppose it's worth a shot to look around." Julia said, "But we should probably be careful on time since I think it will be dark soon."

Darwin looked up at the sky and sighed, "They're seriously going to make us work in the Dark?"

Julia chuckled, "It's a Quarter Quell remember? There has to be a twist!"

"Aww." Darwin groaned, "Well screw Quarter Quells." Darwin still looked like he was thinking of something, which interested Julia.

"Whatcha thinking about?" she asked.

"Besides how to possibly survive?" Darwin asked.

"Yes, besides that."

"Well..." Darwin began, looking rather sheepish, "I'm just wondering where Vera could be."

Julia rolled her eyes, "Your crush won't be able to help us too much I think."

Darwin looked kind of angry now, "She isn't my crush. We just have a mutual respect for each other. Plus she's two years younger than me!"

"Sure, but I remember her saying that she was fourteen in a month." Julia said winking at Darwin, who blushed in discomfort. "Well I suppose we can search for her too." Julia rose to her feet and held a hand out to help Darwin up from the ground. "Come on, let's see how much we can explore."

"Night's going to be here soon," Darwin said, taking Julia's hand. "Do you think it's smart to wonder around at night."

"No I don't," Julia said, "But I don't think it's a good idea either to stay in one place for too long. Plus we have these flashlights, might as well get some use out of them."

Darwin silently agreed and followed Julia away from their digging sight, wondering what Vera could possibly be up to at the moment.

* * *

Vera of District 5, at that moment, was having a less than great time as she lay in a puddle of mud feeling defeated.

So far her time in the arena had been less than impressive. After standing on her plate for at least five minutes, Vera had stepped down slowly from her plate, even flinching when the leaves on the ground crunched. Even the peaceful surrounding couldn't settle her nerves, every chirp she heard and ever gust of wind unsettled her.

After a minute of just standing there, Vera decided to walk around a little bit. She moved slowly, afraid that moving to fast might set of a trap the Gamemakers could have laid to make up for a lack of a Bloodbath. She was satisfied to find that there were none, but her happiness vanished when she discovered something.

There was another plate in front of her.

Vera froze at that moment. There was another tribute nearby, another tribute would could very possibly mean her harm. Next to her the bushes began to rustle and Vera was shaken by fear at the thought of a Career jumping out and attacking her. Vera did the only thing that her panicked mind could think of.

She turned and ran.

She ran as fast as she could, ducking between bushes and trees that obstructed her path. Vera turned around to make sure nobody was following her and when she turned back she was hit in the face by a lose branch.

Pain rocked Vera's body as her vision blurred and mind went fuzzy. Vera stumbled forward, unable to fully see the path in front of her, and fell down a hill. She rolled down the hill, her body crashing into roots, rocks, and small bushes until she reached the bottom of the hill and landed in a puddle of mud. Vera just lay there for a while, ignoring the bruises and cuts all over her body.

Vera felt pathetic. Here she was, one of the smartest thirteen year olds in District 5, and she couldn't even run properly. She had no chance of winning. Her mother had told her she could be strong when she wanted to be and she believed in her daughter, but that belief wouldn't help her now. The other tributes wouldn't care that her mother _believed_ in her, they all had mothers too who believed in them.

From the puddle of mud, Vera began to cry. She was as good as dead and she knew it.

* * *

Olivia and Trajan, two trained Careers from District 2, looked at each other not impressed with the arena.

"A forest?" Trajan said, sounding more like a statement than a question.

"How original." Olivia remarked dryly. "It's pretty I suppose."

Trajan grunted in agreement. Both partners had nothing really to say to each other and didn't find small talk to be all that amusing. They were here to kill tributes and win the Games, not become pals.

Olivia turned to her partner, the defacto leader of the two since he was a year older. "How do you want to play this?"

Trajan looked around the area. Their plates had put them right near the top of a high cliff, giving them a view of a good portion of the arena. Trajan smiled at their good fortune of having such a tactical advantage, though maybe the Gamemakers did this on purpose to give them a boost. Regardless, despite not having a Cornucopia seeing the entire arena was still a major help.

From what Trajan could see most of the place covered in forests. In the distance he saw a large waterfall and another large cliff where at points it looked like it would be impossible to climb even if they had the proper climbing tools. Near the top on of the cliffs was a tall, oddly shaped dead tree that soared above the rest of the live trees. It looked rather out of place which made Trajan think their might be something important there.

Throughout the actual forest there seemed to be clearings where the forest stopped and left wide open spaces. In one of these spaces Trajan noticed a building. It was a rather old and possible run down one, but a building none the less. No doubt some stupid outlier tribute would seek shelter there for the night.

Trajan smiled. _'Easy pickings'_ he thought.

Olivia had now joined him, staring out at the expanse of an arena. Judging by where her eyes were looking he could tell that she was thinking the same thing as him. Her eyes left the building though and scanned the rest of the arena.

"It's kind of small." She remarked.

Trajan again grunted in agreement, though didn't find it to be that bad of a thing. It would certainly make things easier when it came to hunting tributes.

"We need weapons." He remarked.

Olivia raised an eyebrow in amusement. "I think your fists are a good enough weapon for now."

Trajan didn't react, immune to praise in any form. His mentors back in District 2 had beaten out any pride he might have had. Pride was for idiots and was what got a Career killed in the Hunger Games. Trajan looked around and noticed some sticks and stones laying around. Smiling as an idea came to him he walked over and grabbed them up. Sitting down on a larger rock, Trajan removed his jacket and made tears in the lining, removing the string and bindings in the areas. Olivia, seeing what her partner was doing, did the same.

In a minute both tributes from District 2 had created two rudimentary clubs. The clubs wouldn't break down any doors but with a few blows to the head they could probably kill a tribute.

Trajan looked at his partner, "We should head for that house for now, see if there are any tributes laying around or any helpful supplies. We'll find some place to sleep too and in the morning we'll head for the river for some water and tributes who will no doubt be there too."

"No hunting at night then?" Olivia questioned.

Trajan shook his head. "No, I don't think that would be smart. The Gamemakers are obviously planning something for tonight, otherwise they wouldn't have started us off so close to sundown. We'll take shelter for the night and get things started tomorrow morning."

Olivia shrugged, "Fine then. But if there is a bed in this building then I call it."

Trajan nodded and stood up. "Fine. I'll take first watch then."

Olivia laughed, "See? We don't even need the other Careers!"

Trajan smiled. Yes, they didn't really need them. Maybe this meant that they could kill them instead of working with the rest of the Careers. Trajan, and he knew Olivia thought so too, didn't find any of his allies to be particuliarly worth his time. They were all so proud, something Trajan had looked forward to beating out of them before he claimed victory.

With the pleasant thought of death in his mind, Trajan motioned for Olivia to follow him and they both set out, both eager for blood.

* * *

"Sir, I have another call for you regarding the Games this year."

Seneca Crane tiredly motioned to his secretary to put the call on hold. She looked rather distressed by the thought of putting the caller on hold though, her purple dyed eyes stained with worry. "But sir! It's the-"

"Is it the President calling?" Crane asked, cutting his secretary off.

"W-what? Well no sir, but-"

"Then put them on hold."

"I... yes sir."

Crane's secretary removed herself from his office, the door sliding shut behind her, before Crane smiled. He was quite enjoying all the confusion these Games were causing among the Capitol citizens. Everybody had gotten so used to the norm of Cornucopia Bloodbath that nobody had ever considered something different happening. Besides, in recent years Crane had found the Cornucopia Bloodbath idea to be rather tiring. So many tributes died in it that some Games became so boring to watch for Crane. A few years ago the Careers had all but slaughtered three non Career tributes in the Bloodbath, Crane was actually surprised that he hadn't be fired that year.

But no, Seneca Crane had been Head Gamemaker for twenty nine years. Twenty nine great years, the longest time anyone had been Head Gamemaker. He looked around his office, his eyes lingering on the nearby wall that held rows of trophies and awards, along with pictures of him with all the Capitol elite and some of his favorite Victors from his Games. Crane smiled when he looked at the photo of him and the Victor from the 3rd Quarter Quell, his first Quell. Now in his 2nd Quell, Seneca had approached it with almost solemn duty.

Each Quell was specifically designed to undermine the Districts and show Capitol dominance. When he had first received the card that detailed what message was suppose to be sent in this Quell, Seneca was quite confused on how to accomplish it. Not only did the condition overturn many different traditions in the Games but also gave no way for helping the Gamemakers figure out a way to accomplish it's goal.

Crane had spent many long hours thinking about how to accomplish that goal. It finally came to him when he was sitting in a movie theater, of all the odd places. It was during the trailers when one came on advertising for a horror movie. It was at that moment that Crane had a brilliant idea and he actually ran from the theater back to his office to work on his idea. Finally, after months of work his idea was complete, on full display now in the Quarter Quell.

Noticing that it had almost been thirty minutes since the start of the Games, the time he (or rather his secretary) had promised viewers answers to al their questions, Seneca rose from his desk and walked from his office down the Gamemaker Control Room. The Senior Gamemaker there welcomed Crane as he walked to his post. Once situated there Seneca grabbed the Microphone which cast his voice over the entire arena for all the tributes and Panem to hear.

"Greetings tributes of the 100th Hunger Games. Happy 4th Quarter Quell!"

On the screen in front of him were multiple individual screens which showed each of the tributes in the arena. All of them stopped to listen, some looking around for where the voice was coming from, other looking up in the sky. Crane smiled at the scene in front of him. The outliers looked relieved at having no Bloodbath while the Careers looked rather annoyed, especially that boy from 4. At least the team from 1 and 2 could keep control of their emotions. Crane also noticed several tributes still in tears, over what he had no idea. Nobody was dead yet.

"We here in the Capitol and across Panem are honored to have you special tributes compete in the Quarter Quell, and look forward to a successful Game this year! Now, as many of you know, each Quarter Quell is marked by a special condition to show the Districts how foolish they are to oppose the Capitol and to glorify the Capitol itself! This condition has largely been kept secret, until now."

Many of the tributes looked uncertain about what was to come next while many of the Gamemakers in the room looked very happy with themselves. Crane smiled, continuing with his speech.

"This year, as a twist and a first time for the Hunger Games, there can be more than one Victor."

Almost all the tributes in the arena looked shocked, even in the more stoic ones. Many of them actually cheered while some are simply stunned beyond words or actions. Crane noticed however that some of the Careers aren't as happy, though he isn't done with his announcement yet.

"But at the same time that there is the possibility for multiple Victors, there is also the possibility of there being _no_ Victors!"

That dampened the mood of the tributes, who were no longer cheering or looking happy.

"Yes, quite the twist this year wouldn't you say?" Crane asked. "Not only is the end result different, but the manner in which you may claim victory will also be different. For example, you can kill every other tribute in the arena or perhaps hide from the violence and win that way, but it won't matter. This year, you don't win by being the last tribute alive but rather by taking part in a scavenger hunt."

"Around the arena are eight pages, most of which are hiding in plain view for you to find. All the pages will be necessary for you to claim victory, for they will tell you how to defeat your true enemy in the arena." Crane looked at the screen, enjoying the looks of confusion on each of the tributes faces. "In the arena is a monster of myth, specially brought to you by the best scientists in all of Panem!You will need to defeat this creature before you can claim victory, and before it finds you."

Crane was again happy to see the mixed reactions from all the tributes. Most of them were even more horrified now then they looked at the Reaping, while the Careers looked rather angry. On that note, Crane finished up his speech. "As a helpful clue, this creature will only hunt at night. And as another helpful clue, sundown will be in about ten minutes! Now from all of us across Panem, Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor!"

Crane smiled as he logged off from the mic as the Capitol anthem played across the arena. Cheers and claps of approval erupted across the control room and Crane accepted their praise. "Excellent work, sir!" the senior Gamemaker said smiling. Crane nodded to him though politely but knew that the man was nothing more than a sniveling kiss up.

Crane didn't let his mind linger on that though, he felt far to elated. He, Seneca Crane, had created the most unique Hunger Games to date. People would be talking about him for ages to come, how Seneca Crane had revolutionized the way the Hunger Games would be done. How he had created the greatest Hunger Games to date.

What a fitting swan song for Seneca Crane's amazing career.

* * *

**_And so it begins! THE SLENDER GAMES!_**

**_Seneca Crane's POV will be featured in upcoming chapters, but the majority of the story will focus on the tributes and their struggle to survive each other and the Slenderman!_**

**_This will be a quick story too, probably only 15-20 chapters at most. I hope you guys stick around for it all. I promise it will be good :)_**


	2. First Blood

_**Thank you to everybody who reviewed/alerted/favorited this story! It's always great to have such a great response!**_

_**I must also say now that this story may quickly turn into a Rated M story, depending on how violent I am feeling. **_

_**For now enjoy as we meet some more tributes! Don't get to attached to these tributes though, tributes will be going quickly.**_

* * *

**Chapter 2 First Blood**

The Capitol anthem ringed across the arena as Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane's voice disappeared, the anthem so loud that the ground seemed to shake in some places. The music stopped and silence insued for a moment before the sounds of the forest returned, rather comforting sounds if not for the constant fear of attack from a tribute or now this... monster.

Near the waterfall in the arena stood the two tributes from District 1, neither of them particularly worried about another tribute attacking them. Nobody would be foolish enough to attack the two tributes, even if they did not have weapons with them, except another Career.

Sapphire, the typical blonde tribute with sparkling blue eyes to match her name, was the first to speak. "Well that was certainly a twist as they promised."

Her district partner, Jasper, gave his partner a look telling her that we was not happy with the twist.

"I wouldn't worry to much about it though. So what if there's a monster? I'm sure that we can handle it." Sapphire said, misinterpreting her partners unhappiness.

Jasper still said nothing, making Sapphire uncomfortable with the awkward silence. Sapphire hated awkward silences.

Trying again to coax her partner to say something, Sapphire persisted. "And besides that, there can be more than one victor this year! Can you imagine if we both won? What greater honor for District 1 than having two victors from the same game!" This time Sapphire had found what had been annoying Jasper, though she did not realize it since Jasper was expressionless. Though underneath his calm exterior, Jasper was seething.

More than one Victor? What the hell kind of stupid twist was that? Jasper never doubted his ability to win the Games, not for a second, especially after he had seen his competition for this year. All his life, Japser had been told that he would win the Hunger Games, that he _alone_ would bring glory to his family and District. The idea of sharing a stage with somebody else repulsed him, especially if it was his stupid partner Saphire.

She was unbearable and a pathetic excuse of a Career in Jasper's opinion, the only one that matter to him. Sure she was eighteen just like he was and had spent just as long training in District 1 as he had, but she was soft and prone to mercy. Why when they were training in the Capitol Sapphire had actually helped that pathetic little girl from District 10 learn how to use a knife! An outlier receiving help from a Career! It was unprecedented and completely out of line! Even during her interview she came off as nice and cuddly instead of killer and dangerous.

It disgusted Jasper to spend time with the Career wannabe, she was a failure in his opinion. Yet he knew he had to work with her, for a while at least. It wouldn't do any good for him to simply kill her early in the Games, that was no way to win fans anywhere. There was nothing worse in the Games than a tribute who kills their District partner, even that causes the Capitol to grow uncomfortable. Jasper had hoped that by some long shot she might die in the Bloodbath, but it seemed the universe had decided to mock him by having no Bloodbath, another point Jasper was rather annoyed about.

Putting on a persona, Jasper gave his partner a small smile. "That would certainly be one for the history books, wouldn't you say."

Sapphire smiled, her stupid dopey smile, "We'd make quite the pair wouldn't we?"

_'Oh you wish.'_ Jasper thought, though he was still smiling kindly. "We really do."

Sapphire's eyes left Jasper and scanned the arena, allowing Jasper to relax his fake smile and contemplate on how much of an idiot this girl was to believe his performance. "We should probably work on finding some weapons or our fellow Careers."

_'Well no duh!'_ Jasper thought, "Yes, we should start searching though maybe not to hard. I'd rather be someplace secure and defensible just in case the monster decides to pay us a visit."

Sapphire gave him a mocking look, "Scared of the boogyman?"

_'The boogyman is actually real this time though you stupid girl! Didn't you hear the Head Gamemaker just announce that?!'_

Jasper kept his calm face. "Is it unreasonable to be."

"I suppose not, I'm feeling a little worried too." Sapphire confessed. Jasper was considering asking if she felt worried about pathetic outlier children but decided against it. Best not to show the Capitol her weakness towards her supposed prey. Without another word both tributes from 1 left the waterfall and silently moved along the river, searching for other tributes. Jasper, who was behind Sapphire, continued to contemplate the consequences of killing his partner this early in the Games, but ultimately decided against it. Without the Bloodbath sponsor gifts would be even more important and Jasper knew he'd lose all of his if he killed his partner. Still, if the time came, Jasper intended to kill her partner and any other survivors.

Because their was only going to be one Victor to these Games.

And his name would be Jasper.

* * *

"Keep running Felton!" Pepper of District 8 shouted to her partner, who had no intention of stopping anyways. Pepper chanced a glance back and gasped when she saw how close the Careers from District 4 were to them, both looking eager for a fight. The boy tribute, Marlin, looked much scary than his partner whose name escaped Peper at that moment.

In front of them was a river and on the other side were patches of bushes, tall enough for people to hide in. An idea came to Pepper who grabbed Felton's arm and dragged him to the riverbank. Felton quickly removed himself from Pepper's grasp but continued to follow her.

Along the riverbank was a fallen tree, rotten and covered in dirt and vegetation. Pepper dived underneath it along with Felton, both bodies splashed with mud and sweat. Pepper signaled to Felton to try and keep his breathing calm as they heard the Careers from District 4 come closer.

Both Careers seemed to have come to a stop and heaving breathing was heard. Pepper silently prayed to a higher power that the Careers would not find them, that they would fall for Pepper's trick.

Pepper's higher power must have heard her as she heard Marlin shout out, "They must have gone across the river through the bushes. Come on before we lose them!"

The cowering fifteen year olds from District 8 saw Marlin jump onto the riverbank and proceed to cross the shallow river, not followed by his partner. Pepper shuddered when she realized that the female Career was now standing above them, hunched over the log and staring along the bank. Pepper could feel her heart beating loud and fast, causing her entire body to shake. Felton was also shaking, his false aura of confidence gone now that he was faced with a Career.

Marlin shouted out for the girl, Sylvia was her name, to follow him. Sylvia sighed and jumped down from the log right in front of the scared tributes, Pepper barely able to repress her gasp, and run across the river to her partner who had already rushed into the bushes.

Both tributes sat in the mud underneath the log for another minute before Felton made the first sound, an cocky laugh. "Guess what they say about Career intelligence is true!" he said, his all to familiar prideful attitude coming back now that the danger had passed.

Pepper was far to annoyed to stay silent anymore, shoving her partner harshly so he hit his head against the log. "What the hell was that for?" he questioned.

"For being an idiot that's why!" Pepper said, failing to control her temper. "I told you I heard something coming from behind the trees but no, you didn't listen!"

Felton's eyes narrowed but he didn't say anything in protest, realizing that he had almost gotten them killed. Pepper wasn't done with her rant though. "We almost died! Don't you get that?" she said, now shouting.

Felton turned to his partner, anger on his face. "But we didn't die, so why don't you just keep your voice down before _you_ get us killed freak!"

Pepper groaned in annoyance at the word 'freak', her name in school back in District 8, a name given to her due to her Albinism. Yep, Pepper was an albino. White hair, pale white skin, and pale colorless eyes matched with colorless lips Pepper was a certified freak to everybody in her District, thus alienating her from much of her District. Pepper's draw in life had never been great, and her luck only worsened when she was Reaped for the 4th Quarter Quell alongside Felton, her biggest antagonist.

Felton, since day one of meeting her when they were only eight, bullied and abused Pepper due to her condition. Where before Felton the other kids in Pepper's class would only talk about her behind her back, with Felton leading them they began insulting Pepper to her face. They called her freak and even a demon and pulled prank after prank on her, always to remind Pepper that she was different. Pepper remembered one snowy day that all her classmates had run away from her at recess, saying that they were being chased by an invisible demon in clothing since Pepper's skin blended with the snow. Pepper had run the bathroom with tears in her eyes as all the other kids, led by Felton, laughed at her.

Pepper was ashamed to ever say anything because deep down she hated all the pity that the adults gave her, many of them thinking that she might die early in life. Pepper had grown to be able to read people well, taking in all their pity with a martyr's attitude while knowing full well that these people wanted nothing to do with her. She felt alone in the world, though acted like she couldn't care less because to not act so would only cause more pity for her.

So when Pepper was Reaped she was filled with terror, though not for the obvious reasons. Pepper was terrified because deep down she felt a certain joy, a joy at the knowledge that there was no way that she could possibly win. Knowledge that she would die and finally leave this world.

Pepper was dragged out of her thoughts when she heard a beeping sound from above. Looking up at the sky, Pepper smiled when she noticed two parachutes, attached together, descending from the sky with a note attached to them. Pepper started to get up from the ground but was immediately pushed back down by Felton, mud splattering across her ungodly pale figure.

Felton rushed forward to grab the parachutes, turning back briefly to smile at Pepper. "Don't look so upset freak, I was just adding some color to you!"

Refusing to show her annoyance toward Felton, Pepper stood up again and began wiping off as much mud as she possibly could. Her clothing was already wet and sticky from sweat, causing Pepper to worry about colder temperatures. Hopefully nighttime would remain the same warm temperature as it was now in late twilight.

Felton had already read the note on the parachutes and had thrown it aside, looking rather annoyed with it. Grabbing it from the ground, Pepper smiled when she figured out why Felton was annoyed.

_'To our Snow Queen.'_ The note read, _'From your loyal fans.'_

Pepper, unlike Felton, was quite popular in the Capitol due to her condition and tough attitude and during her interview had managed to amass quite a lot of fans. Her solid seven in training, compared to Felton's five, also helped her out. Pepper smiled even wider when she realized that the contents of the parachutes were hers. A fact, however, that Felton seemed to care little for.

The first parachute contained a small pack with some wrapped bread, canned goods, and a jug of water. The second parachute remained unopened at Felton's feet.

"I believe that this stuff is mine." Pepper said. Felton ignored her, already unwrapping the bread and gobbling it down. "Felton!" Pepper said a little louder.

He spun around, crumbs running down from his mouth. "What?" he asked.

"I believe all of this," Pepper repeated, motioning to the two parachutes, "Is mine."

"Sure it is." Felton said, laughing cynically before devouring the rest of the bread. Pepper, annoyed that Felton was so carelessly wasting her rations, charged forward and grabbed the remaining bread from him. She grabbed the rest of the contents from the parachute, moving them quickly away from Felton. Felton however quickly grabbed the second parachute and opened it, smiling when he saw what was inside.

With a swift motion Felton removed a sword, a weapon that they both knew was Pepper's signature weapon, which she highlighted in her interview.

_'My whole life I've been using a needle to sew clothing.' Pepper had told the Capitol. 'I like to think of the sword as my new needle which I will use to weave my way to victory.'_

Pepper's face contorted into a look of rage, "Give me my sword, Felton!"

She started moving towards Felton to take it, but Felton pointed it at Pepper, stopping her in her tracks. "Not a step closer freak." He said.

Pepper laughed in shock, "Are you actually serious?"

"Do I look serious?" Felton asked, looking rather serious and slightly deranged to Pepper. "Give me the food."

"No." Pepper responded, looking Felton right in the eye.

Felton, face red, stepped forward and slashed out at Pepper who stumbled back shocked. The slash was clumsy and clearly not meant to actually harm Pepper, but the action had still thrown her off balance.

Felton laughed at her. "What? You think I'm afraid to hurt you because you're my partner? I don't care what anybody in the other Districts thinks or in the stupid Capitol. I only care about everybody in District 8, and knowing them they'll probably thank me for killing the freak! Now give the BAG!"

Pepper mentally cursed herself for actually thinking that she might be able to form a working relationship with her dumbass partner. Realizing what she had to do, Pepper stepped forward slowly, watching as Felton lowered the sword. Pepper hooking the bags straps firmly around her arms as she got closer and when she was in range she swung out with it, smacking it across Felton's face.

Felton shouted in in pain and stumbled back, slipping on the rocks on the riverbank. The sword, which he was holding loosely, fell from his grasp. As fast as she could move, Pepper grabbed the sword from the river and began sprinting away, though Felton's outreached hand grabbed her leg and caused her to fall. Pepper squinted in pain as she landed hard on some rocks underneath the water.

"You bitch!" Felton shouted after her, "I'm going to kill you! You hear-"

Felton was cut off though by Pepper's boot heel slamming into his face, breaking his nose. Felton shouted in pain as Pepper got up from the ground and continued running away from her partner, who was shouting curses at her.

Pepper wasn't hurt by his words since her entire body felt like it was on a high. After seven years of torture at the hands of that boy, the true monster, Pepper had finally stood up to him and in quite the spectacular way. Looking at the sheer amount of rations given to her by sponsors, and with her trusty sword in hand, Pepper felt the new sense of courage rush over her.

For the first time Pepper actually thought she could win the Hunger Games.

(Page Break)

Heinz of District 5 was relieved when he found himself in a woodland clearing, a small log cabin in front of him. Night had finally fallen in the arena, the moon still low enough so it didn't provide too much light over the arena, and Heinz was tired of stumbling through the forest with only a flashlight. While the Games couldn't have been going on for more than four hours, Heinz felt like he had been walking for days. The thought of lounging comfortably in a log cabin, with walls and a solid door to protect him from other tributes and the monster, was all to enticing for Heinz.

Turning off his flashlight, Heinz made his way for the house. Unlike in the forest, the moonlight lit up the entire clearing giving Heinz I direct view to the cabin, his anticipation of the comfort of the cabin would provide increasing with each step.

He had been on the move for a long time, stopping for nothing except a quick drink from the river he had run across. He was at first worried that it might be polluted with something like most of the rivers back in District 5, but ultimately gave into his thirst and drank a lot. He wasn't crapping out his guts two hours later or feeling weak so Heinz made a note to remember roughly where the river was so he could return at some point. He'd have to be careful though sine other tributes would no doubt come to that river too.

Thinking of other tributes made Heinz think of his partner, the two years younger Vera. She was very smart and if she wasn't Reaped she would have probably gone on to become on of the smartest people in the District. Unfortunately life was cruel and young Vera was Reaped and now running around the arena somewhere, probably scared out of her mind about fellow tributes and now a monster.

Heinz was obviously scared when he first heard about this monster, no doubt some horrible mutt created in some District 3 lab. Heinz had no wish to come across this creature and he had resigned himself to the fact that this creature would find him before Heinz found it. All the more reason to get in this log cabin, which would at least provide some defense between him and the monster.

Reaching the cabin now, Heinz moved quickly up the stairs onto the elevated porch. The cabin itself was dusty and rather broken down, making Heinz briefly worried about diseases or mold that had built up here. The door itself was hanging off rusty hinges, but still looked rather sturdy. Reaching for the handle, Heinz pushed hard against it and opened the door, revealing a dark room inside with only outlines of furniture from the moonlight coming in from the single window.

Suddenly Heinz felt the wind being knocked out of him as something hit his stomach, followed by a strong blow to the temple. Heinz fell back, hitting the porch with a loud thud following by some moaning on his part. He struggled against the overwhelming urge to black out as everything became fuzzy and disorienting, the very ground itself shaking. Cool blood ran down from Heinz's temple, it's metallic taste hitting his lips and causing him to cough.

There were sounds coming from the doorway, sounds that sounded like somebody talking in a mocking tone. Forcing his head to stay still and eyes to focus, Heinz made out the blurry figure of District 2's female tribute, Olivia.

Fear spread through Heinz's body as he struggled to move his disoriented body back away from the Career, who was smiling brightly. She continued to speak, her words becoming slightly clearer and the fog lifting from Heinz's sight.

Heinz held up a shaking hand, "Puh-Plea-please!" he managed to get out, still attempting to back away from Olivia. She laughed though, the sound echoing through Heinz's head. Heinz had now backed up to the porch stairs and he had begun moving slowly down them. Olivia didn't seem to be in any rush to attack Heinz again, simply enjoying watching the cowering tribute. She raised her weapon, a rudimentary club with Heinz's blood splattered on it, and walked slowly towards him.

Heinz opened his mouth to begin pleading again, but was silenced when he was hit again, this time underneath the chin. Heinz screamed out as his lower teeth bit through his tongue, filling his mouth with his own blood. Heinz slid down the rest of the stairs, his entire head throbbing and mind unable to think properly.

Meanwhile Olivia was looking over at her District partner who had just attacked her prey. "What the hell was that Trajan? He's mine!"

Trajan casually lifted his club up, readjusting the strings around the rock. "You were moving to slow."

"Sorry for wanting to enjoy the moment." Olivia responded over the District 5 boy's moans of pain. "Oh shut up!" Olivia shouted, no longer enjoying his suffering. She slammed her club into his side twice which was followed by the sickening crack of one of the fifteen year olds ribs.

Olivia continued to smash her club into the boy, hitting everywhere that wouldn't put him into a coma or kill him. The boy continued to shrivel around on the ground, crying out in pain followed by tears, which mixed with the blood pouring from his temple and mouth.

Olivia delivered another strong blow to the boys face, breaking his jawbone with a loud crack. Olivia's stone slid from it's place, the binds having become to loose from constant and vigorous use. Swearing, Olivia turned from her victim to reattach the stone, blood smearing her hands. As she turned back to her victim, Olivia screamed out in anger when she saw Trajan deliver a blow to the boy's temple, crushing his skull and ending his life. A canon went off, signaling the death of a tribute.

Olivia continued to scream in anger until her breath was gone. Regain air in her lungs; she lunged at her partner who deflected her blow. "What the hell!" she shouted, "HE WAS MY KILL!"

"Again, you were taking to long." Trajan said.

Olivia wanted to continue to attack her partner but knew it wouldn't do any good. Trajan was much stronger than her and could kill her easily. Olivia forced herself to calm down, taking deep and quick breaths. After a few seconds, Olivia once again faced her partner.

"He was your kill. Clean him up yourself." She said, storming back to the log cabin and slamming the door behind her.

Looking out from the window, Olivia say Trajan throw the boys body over his shoulder and moving him to thicket of bushes, rage still boiling through her body. It was her kill, _her_ kill damn it, and she had been robbed. THE VERY FIRST KILL OF THE GAMES!

Olivia forced herself to calm down again. She couldn't lose control. Her temper was always the one thing that held her back in training, the one thing that her mentors could never beat out of her. She had to be smart and not listen to the crazed voice in her head that wanted her to punch Trajan for his actions.

Feeling calmer now, Olivia took a seat on one of the stools that were arranged around a small table. There were three of them along with the table, which took up an entire corner of the cabin. On the opposite wall was a fireplace that would not get any use from either Career while they were there, and a single person bed propped on the wall opposite of the window. Hardly comfortable, but workable for a night or two.

On the table was a piece of paper, one page out of eight Head Gamemaker Crane had talked about. While both Careers were happy about finding the page, both of them quickly learned that there was nothing special about it or containing anything that told them how to deal with the monster. It was a simple sheet of paper, big enough to be found yet small enough to be folded to fit into a pocket. The only thing on this sheet of paper was pencil marks, oddly done pencil marks that were scattered across the paper. Olivia though they might be trees, though one of the marks was different from the rest.

Instead of the pointy top of the other marks, this one had a round head and a weird body that seemed to be reflective of a crudely done human torso. The body was very skinny though and the arms and legs were to elongate in comparison.

The door to the cabin opened and Trajan stepped back in. He closed the door and walked to join Olivia at the table, taking a stool across from her. Olivia refused to look him in the eye, instead staring intently at the page as if she was trying to find a clue.

Trajan sighed and leaned closer to Olivia. "I'm sorry for taking your kill." He said.

Out of all the things Trajan could have said, this surprised Olivia the most. Nobody in training ever apologized for anything they did to another trainee; it was all strictly part of the program. The strong survived while the weak did not. Olivia simply sat there, unable to get any words out since the whole idea of apologies was too foreign to her.

This also brought up something that had been bothering Olivia for a while now, the possibility of multiple Victors. Would Trajan want that? Or would he be too prideful and only allow one, himself. Trajan, always the stoic, had not revealed any of his thoughts on the matter since neither of them talked about it. Still… Trajan and her had trained for many years together, although separated by the one-year gap, so the idea of him dying was something that Olivia actually felt like avoiding. Besides the possibility of two Victors from District 2 was something truly amazing, something that only District 2 should have the honor of.

There was a loud beeping noise outside, followed by a crashing sound, and both tributes were on their feet with weapons in hand. Trajan moved swiftly to the door followed by Olivia, who nodded to Trajan that she was ready. Trajan flung the door and was outside faster than his size let on. Olivia was right behind him, hoping for another fight.

Instead they were met with a rather large container, which had already opened itself. Both tributes approach it slowly, their caution turning into joy when they saw the contents.

Inside were two sets of armor, both tailored to the tributes sizes. Next to Trajan's set was a large ax, his signature weapons, and next to Olivia's set was a spear and shield, her weapons of choice. Besides that there were also packs of military food supplies and jugs of water, allowing for easy movement of resources.

Olivia was giddy, like a little girl receiving presents on her birthday. She removed the armor as quick as possible and began to arm herself, eager to test out the sponsor's gift. She was pleased when it fit well, the armor was simple yet light too. It only covered her chest and stomach region, along with some wrist guards, but it would stop a lot of melee weapons. Trajan hefted up his ax and began spinning it around, obviously impressed with the gift.

"This will do nicely." Trajan said, allowing himself to smile.

Olivia grabbed her spear and spun it around, impressed with her weapon too. It was finely crafted and of superior quality. She looked at Trajan again, smiling herself.

With this weapon on hand, Trajan wouldn't be stealing her kills anymore.

(Page Break)

Mitsuko tripped on another root when the blast of the canon went off, the fourth root she had tripped on that night. She was getting tired of the effort of lifting her body up from the ground, tired of the walking, tired of the Games in general.

Yet she got up, she had too. Mitsuko was never one for giving up no matter how much the world might be against her. At least, that's the way everything always seemed to Mitsuko. In Mitsuko's life back in District 6, family was everything. Her entire family, extended an all, lived together in one giant house that was actually a small apartment complex. Everybody in the family had an important role to play, something that Mitsuko herself had never seemed to fit into.

She wasn't an academic, she found school to be largely boring overall. She wasn't hard working; she didn't see the point since everybody else around her always worked for her. She wasn't even pretty enough to be married to some rich or smart boy, she was told often by her older sisters and classmates that she looked quite a bit like a boy herself with her short black hair and pudgy appearance. No, compared to everybody else in her family when they were sixteen, Mitsuko had nothing to show for.

Still, despite her difficult attitude, her family still loved her dearly. Every single member had come to say goodbye to her and had offered sincere wishes of luck in the Games. Her cousin even said that if she managed to win than that would trump all other accomplishments her family had achieved in District 6.

Mitsuko wasn't so sure that she could win the Games, yet didn't let her family know that. She simply promised that she would try harder than she ever had in her life, which was saying something since Mitsuko never really tried for much. However after some training she was shocked to find that she was rather good with a bow, even managing to pull of an eight for a score.

Still, that meant little now since Mitsuko had nothing with her except a flashlight that she wouldn't even turn on in fear of being attacked by anther tribute or worse… that monster. She had been stumbling through the trees ever since nightfall, hoping for some sort of break.

When she looked up from the ground Mitsuko noticed a pleasant change from the normal forest line, an actual clearing. Mitsuko was eager to sprint into it and escape the confines of the forest, but stopped herself when she realized how stupid that would be. What if there were other tributes around just waiting for somebody to charge out into the opening, just waiting to attack that person.

Mitsuko walked slowly to the tree line, standing far enough back so she was still covered in shadows, and looked around the clearing. There was nobody in sight that she could see and was shocked by what stood in decay at the center of clearing.

It was an old van, a kind that was around way before even the Dark Days. She only knew about it since their were museums in her District which showed these vehicles, a kind of history listen for the District of transportation on far the world has come in terms of transportation she supposed. It looked pretty banged up, actually missing one of its tires and sliding doors.

Looking around one last time, Mitsuko decided to make a run for it. She charged at the van blindly, simply praying that there was no tribute with a bow around that could kill her. She made it to the van and jumped inside with such ferocity that she actually slammed against the other side of the vehicle. Mitsuko let out a gasp of pain, unable to hold it back, and began rubbing her injured shoulder to ease the discomfort.

Her pain was quickly dispersed when she noticed a picnic basket in the back of the seat-gutted van, an aroma of foods being given off from it. Mitsuko crawled towards it and was happy when she found wrapped sandwiches inside along with what looked like gallon of milk and cookies. There were also a set of throwing knifes tucked in there nicely.

Mitsuko went for the milk first, knowing that it would go bad the fastest. It didn't taste to great after hours of lying out in the open, but it still got the job done for the tired girl from District 6. She then grabbed one the cookies and savored the chocolate flavor in it, a new taste she had only recently acquired after being first introduced to wonderful sweet while in the Capitol. It was only another thing that Mitsuko was jealous of the Capitol for having.

Mitsuko finished the meal without any thought towards rationing, enjoying all the food. When she was finished with her meal, Mitsuko let her body slump against the side of the car. She was ready to close her eyes for a moment when something caught her attention.

On the steering wheel was a taped paper, which Mitsuko instantly recognized to be one the pages mentioned earlier.

Mitsuko moved to it quickly, ripping the page off the steering wheel to examine it. On the side facing up Mitsuko noticed some scattered markings, which seemed to be nothing but gibberish. '_Guess she would need the other seven pages to figure out what it means.'_ She thought. Mitsuko noticed that there was stuff written on the other side of the paper too and turned it over to check it out.

She was disturbed by what she saw.

On that side of paper were over exaggerated letters, seemingly written in a hasty fashion by a deranged person, and read as such.

**DON'T LOOK…**

**OR IT TAKES YOU!**

Mitsuko shuddered when she read the note, noticing how in the corner there was a slender like figure drawn crudely. But none of that compared to sudden cold feeling she felt. The air itself actually got colder to the point that she could see her breath, rapid and unsteady. Mitsuko also got the disturbing feeling that she was being watched by something that was very close.

Mitsuko spun around quickly, raising one of the knifes she had grabbed, expecting to be attack by… something!

But there was nobody there.

The air grew warmer and Mitsuko's breath disappeared from sight.

Mitsuko grabbed the page and the rest of the knifes and sprinted from the van back into the forest, praying that nothing would take her that night.

(Page Break)

Carver was very worried.

Not for himself per say, he felt safer than he should for being in the Hunger Games, but for his twelve year old District partner Rowan.

She so confident in herself, too much so for a twelve year old from District 7 in the Hunger Games. Carver, five years her senior, didn't feel nearly as confident as his partner did. Yet she had weaved a web for all of Panem, casting herself as the first twelve year old to win the Hunger Games.

Yet Carver could see through Rowan, and he knew that she was scared. Scared and in need of his protection. Yet she refused to acknowledge it, thinking she could survive the Games by herself.

_'It's that type of thinking that's going to get her killed.'_ Carver thought.

So when he heard the first canon blast of the Games, Carver had gone ridged with fear. Was Rowan killed? Was she near the fighting? Had the monster the Gamemakers had promised them found her?

Carver refused to think so, thinking about how pointless it would be to send your mutt creation after a twelve year old. Why not a Career to really inspire fear?

At least that's the thinking Carver was hoping the Gamemakers would follow.

Carver wouldn't even be worrying about all this if Rowan had stayed where Carver had told her too. The two of them had been separated by the waterfall, their plates starting on separate sides of it. It was too intense for Carver to swim across it, but Carver had shouted over to her to stay where she was until he made it over to her. Rowan looked at him like he was an idiot, but obediently stayed on her plate waiting for him.

It had taken him quite a bit of effort to get down since the cliff couldn't be climbed down from, but he had managed to find a cave system that took him to the other side of the waterfall. He had to pass by some oddly shaped tree but didn't stick around to investigate it.

When he got to the other side Rowan was gone, Carver being able to see her figure running away into the distance. He had angrily chased after her, hoping to find her before nightfall but had been unsuccessful. He had however found a rusty ax buried into the side of tree with a note attached to it.

_"You'll be needing this."_ It read.

Now after about hours of searching, Carver was about ready to give up when he heard screaming nearby, screaming he instantly recognized, although never hearing it before.

"ROWAN!" Carver shouted, running off in the direction of the distressed sounds. He kept running, turning his flashlight on to see better. Another scream, this one sounding more distressed and more to the right, and Carver changed direction to follow it.

The trees cleared up and Carver saw little Rowan running in fear from some unknown enemy. "ROWAN!" Carver screamed again, getting her attention. Rowan looked up, her red and tearstained face illuminated by his flashlight.

"CAR-" she began shouting back, before letting out another scream as she fell to the ground and began to be pulled away by an invisible force. Carver ran to his partner who was holding onto a root, her entire body floating off the ground. The root snapped and Rowan was pulled into the darkness just as Carver reached her.

"NO!" Carver shouted, "ROWAN! ROWAN COME BACK!" He lifted his flashlight up so he could look into the blackness, but saw nothing there but trees. Charging in after his partner, Carver continued shouting her name as he brushed past bushes and low lying branches. Carver continued this for a few minutes before he ended up right back where he started.

Sinking to his knees, Carver fought back the emotions of guilt. He should have protected her, he should have been faster, he should have tried harder!

Something cool ran down Carver neck, landing lightly on it like raindrops. It was followed by another drop and then stream of the liquid, causing Carver to jump back in shock. Carver turned his flashlight on again and examined the liquid.

It was red and coming down in quick streams. Carver, hands shaking, raised his flashlight up and screamed out in horror and anger at what he saw, followed by the second canon of the 100th Hunger Games.

Hanging from the tree branches by her intestines, which were wrapped around her waist to support her, was Rowan, her face red from blood and contorted into a look of absolute horror.

* * *

_**Yes Ladies and Gentlemen the Games have begun. Two dead, twenty-two left, two pages found, and good ol' Slendy is on the loose!**_

_**For you purists out there, I know that there is no log cabin in Slender. Just an add on like the waterfall is. **_

_**Also one thing that always surprises me about fanfiction writers is how people don't give the tributes armor. Cato in the 74th Games was given armor to protect him from Katniss's arrows, why can't other tributes get some? It would certainly help tributes survive and make fights last longer for the Capitol's amusement.**_

_**Anyways, hope you enjoyed! Stay tune for more coming this week!**_


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